Match preview: Nuneaton

The Spireites will travel to Nuneaton on Saturday (2pm) as preparations for the forthcoming campaign continue.

Martin Allen will put out a youthful side, featuring only a handful of players who were involved at Gainsborough Trinity in midweek.

Joe Anyon will be in goal with Laurence Maguire and Jamie Sharman starting as the centre-back pairing, with Brandon Howard at right- back and Sam Muggleton at left-back.

Jordan Sinnott and Joe Rowley make up the central midfield with Ify Ofoegbu on the right and Charlie Wakefield on the left.

New signing Lee Shaw and promising young striker Lewis Walker, who has been on trial, are up front.

The substitutes bench will be made up of Shwan Jalal, Sam Wedgbury, George Smith, Alex Render and young academy player Brandon Bradbury.

Allen spoke about the main purpose of pre-season games. He said: “The important thing at this moment in time is to make sure all the players get minutes under their belt to make sure they’ve had enough game time.

"Their first performance at Boston I thought wasn’t very good but it’s not right to be judgemental with the amount of hard running and training, as it sometimes takes just a couple of weeks to settle down.

"We got that improvement on Tuesday night at Gainsborough and I’m looking for the same for some of those players. They just need a bit more playing time and that’s what I am hoping to get tomorrow.”

Commenting on the triallists who are with the team at the moment, Allen said: “Our squad at the moment is quite small and it’s important to look at different players.

"Muggleton brings us something different with his long throw so we’ll see how we can get on with that one next week. Walker is a good young centre forward who’s growing and he’s getting bigger and stronger. We’ll have a look at him and make a decision over the weekend.

"(Liam) McAlinden is a good player so I’m hoping to get him signed as quickly as possible. I’m just waiting for the okay on that one because he is a good player. He’s not playing this weekend and we’ll hopefully talk to him and get him engaged with us early next week.”

Admission at Nuneaton will cost £8 for those aged 16 and over, with under 16s charged £3, unless they attend with someone aged 16 or over, in which case they can gain free admission.

A reminder that the kick-off has been moved back an hour to 2pm in order to allow the manager to watch his wife Lisa take part in a charity swimming event in aid of Cancer Research UK.